Is this wrong?

[gbear]

So we're having a debate here at work over how I paid for my sneakers.

A few months ago, I got tired of always having change in my pocket or wallet. I was also more than a little tired of the penney fairy dropping change around my room everytime I went to sleep (falling out of pockets?).

So I started depositing my change in a huge bowl every night. Well, I needed some new sneakers...so I went to the bowl picked out a few handfuls of change, separated it out into quarters, dimes, and nickles and headed off to Sports Authority. I paid for the shoes in change. My coworkers are flabergasted. What's wrong with using the change? It was counted and separated (in different bags), just not rolled. Heck, why is rolling better? It would seem easier to cheat since you can't count rolled money very easily except to compare to other rolls. He could have trusted me (but he counted anyway...fine). It only took a few min, and I've spent longer behind people writing checks. I was there when they opened, and I gave them the option of counting hte change while I looked at shoes which they didn't want to do. To Sports Authority's credit, they did take the money with out fuss. It's just my coworkers who are flabergasted.

Story #2
In college, I once had a box of change (worked as a waiter). I took it to the bank and tried to deposit it. They said I couldn't deposit it without knowing how much money was there. I laughed and told them it was $312.86. It was more like $60. They said they didn't think I had that much change, and were going to refuse my deposit. I pulled out a dollar bill and had them read the part about good for all debt public and private. I then explained I was going to write a check on this account, and they better honor my deposit for the debt I was about to wrack up. Then they said they still didn't think I had over $300, to which my response was "Well, count it." They took me back to the back room, and I used their machine. It was counted in less than 5 min and depositied in short order.

What's wrong with either of these? I paid everything I was asked to for everything bought with this money. Why do people think $50 in change is somehow worth less than a $50 bill? It's got to be those stupid change counting machines that take 7%. Why do people use those?

[Symbol]

There's nothing wrong with paying for something with change, I do think that you should roll the change. Rolling it is more of a convenience, because the stores will roll the change to bring to the bank. Plus, in the area I live in, the stores will ask you to put your bank name, and your name on the rolls. This way, if you do try to cheat them, the bank inwhich you go to can reimburse them out of your account.

[The X-Factor]

This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when Cramer tries to pay for Calzones with change. I don't think there is anything wrong with it as long as there is not a line behind you. I would hate to be the guy that has to count all of that when there are 5 other people waiting in line trying to check out.

[Dan T.]

I told my boys we would all save our change to pay for admission to DisneyWorld. So we all saved our change for weeks and weeks. When it was close to trip time, I declared that Yes! we saved enough, and we were going to DisneyWorld. My then 5-year old was sitting on his bed with his huge jug of change, and he had a real worried look on his face, like he was just about to cry.

Turns out he thought he actually had to carry the change with him to DisneyWorld! The poor kid was scared he'd be too loaded down to keep up with us.



Now, if he was Gbear's kid, he would have had something to worry about.

[Awgustlab]

You should have either....

1. Rolled the change prior to spending it. It is not that hard and you are probably just too lazy to do it.

2. Went to the bank and exchanged the coins for bills. Most are free.

3. Went to the supermarket and used the coin change machine at the front of the store. Most offer them and you will lose some of the value for doing it this way, but it is convenient.

Going to a store and plopping down all that uncounted change is just palin tacky and obnoxious. Even if you know how much is there, they don't. You should know better and you probably do - writing a message on here just proves to me that you do know better and you are taking a delight in your obnoxiousness and how much attention you are getting from it from your co-workers.

Just MHO> take it or leave it. You asked. :logo:

[SkinsNut73]

My wife used to work in the tax assessor's office in town. She said one time this guy came in to pay his property taxes in pennies. He waited until the last possible day to pay his taxes...and came in with over $4,000 in pennies. He carted it into the office in his kids wagon and gleefully said "I'm here to pay my taxes".

To which the tax collector replied, "Great. Leave it here and we'll bring it to the bank to be counted...but we cannot consider your taxes as paid in full until it is verified...which means your taxes will be late and you will be assessed additional interest". Ouch!

Funny story I thought...anyway, back to the original post from gbear...I see nothing wrong with that. You are right...$50 is $50 whether it's one bill, 50 one dollar bills, or a boat load of change.

[gbear]

IN fairness, it was $43 in quarters, 3.00 in dimes, and .80 in nickles. I didn't have the rolls, and it was exact change (always buy same shoes).

Seriously, it took less time than some checks I've had the joy of sitting behind the writing of.

As for going to the bank...that is preferable, but don't kid yourself that they won't give you a hard time about using their machine. Read story #2. I've done that too.

Why give up 7%at the supermarket? Why is 100 pennies only worth 93 cents?

[riggins44]

gbear, next time at the bank ask them to give you some rolls. They have plenty and I'm sure they'll be glad to give you several handfulls.

It's just a courtesy if you roll your change before going to buy shoes or whatever. Paying in change is fine, just try to be thoughtful of others. Just put yourself in the shoes of the clerk
that had to count the change.

[Mr. S]

Well, there is technically wrong with paying in change. However, we are used to the paper or card here, we dont want to deal with change or even checks. I worked at toys r us for a year, and I just shuddered when some kid came in with their mom and a bag full of change they saved for a bit. At least some moms would say 'dont worry, most of it is bills' but still. I think the most I had to accept was 25$ in change, and it was not fun. Most clerks like me would be civil and accept it, but we really dont wanna deal with it. I dunno if Id prefer checks though, hated dealing with those as well, they took up time as well.

[Southtown]

Originally posted by SkinsNut73
My wife used to work in the tax assessor's office in town. She said one time this guy came in to pay his property taxes in pennies. He waited until the last possible day to pay his taxes...and came in with over $4,000 in pennies. He carted it into the office in his kids wagon and gleefully said "I'm here to pay my taxes".

To which the tax collector replied, "Great. Leave it here and we'll bring it to the bank to be counted...but we cannot consider your taxes as paid in full until it is verified...which means your taxes will be late and you will be assessed additional interest". Ouch!

Funny story I thought...anyway, back to the original post from gbear...I see nothing wrong with that. You are right...$50 is $50 whether it's one bill, 50 one dollar bills, or a boat load of change.

:laugh: That story is funny if its accurate. What was pulling the wagon? A tractor? Someone figure out for me what 400,000 pennies weigh.

Here is the Straigth Dope on paying with change if anyone is interested:

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_330.html

Dear Cecil:

My question concerns the term "legal tender." I remember reading years ago that certain huge amounts of loose change can be rejected by a cashier as payment. But what are these amounts? I ring on a register all day long and have frequently encountered people who make purchases of $5 or more with nothing but dimes, nickels, and pennies.

To suggest an extreme example: could you force a car dealer to take $10,000 worth of nickels? Or pay your ex-wife's alimony with an enormous sack of pennies? Another thought: can you buy a newspaper with a 25-cent postage stamp? --Mike J., Chicago

Dear Mike:

You can buy a newspaper with a Tootsie Roll if the other guy is agreeable. The main thing is that the medium of exchange be acceptable to both parties to the transaction.

In fact, during the Civil War, when coins were scarce, people used postage stamps enclosed in brass frames instead.

But neither Tootsie Rolls nor stamps are "legal tender"--that is, officially recognized as legal payment for debts.

Unfortunately, that's about as far as we can go in the way of definitive statements on this subject. Legal tender happens to be one of the curious anomalies of U.S. law.

At one time there were definite limits to how much small change you could legally unload on the people you owed money to--25 cents in the case of "minor coins" (the penny and the nickel) and $10 for "silver coins" (the dime, quarter, and half-dollar).

In 1933, however, in the course of getting the U.S. off the gold standard, Congress offhandedly declared that all U.S. coins and currency were legal tender for all debts, period. That would appear to repeal the earlier limits.

There is evidence to suggest that this was accidental, though, and the contradictory statutes have been permitted to remain on the books, perhaps in the hope that someone would bring them to a court test. No one, as far as I can tell, ever has.

Matters were further complicated when the U.S. ceased to make silver coins, having chosen to use cupronickel-clad copper instead.

The $10 limit, on the face of it, applies (or applied, anyway) only to silver coins. It is at least arguable that while you might not be able to force your ex-wife to accept more than $10 in pre-1965 (i.e., silver) quarters, you could pay her off with unlimited amounts of post-1965 coins.

This is not a hypothesis I would be prepared to defend tooth and nail, frankly. But if you're the sporting type--and believe me, I've heard people make nuttier arguments--feel free to give it a try.

--CECIL ADAMS

[kappaluvacee]

All you have to do in the future is identify a Commerce Bank in your local area. Bring all your change in and dump it in their huge machine for free. You don't have to be an account holder. Just bring it in, dump it, wait for the ticker to print out, and redeem your ticket for the dollar amount indicated on the ticket. I do it when my coin jar fills.

[Soliloquy]

Legal, but tacky.

[Ancalagon the Black]

Here's the "official" word, from http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.html:


There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.

[smashmowf]

Money is money...........